The triceps is an awesome muscle. It is made up out of three heads (medial, lateral, and long). I always wondered why people use only a few different angles and different exercises when training the triceps. They just do a bit of bar or rope work to build muscle on their triceps. But that’s just stupid. If you really want slabs of hard lean muscle you have to do more than that. Here’s what you need to know dawg.

THIS IS FOR: TRICEPS LATERAL HEAD

EXERCISES: Close-grip bench press, weighted dip.

Lying extensions are great for building muscle, but the close-grip bench press is the king of triceps exercises. You add slabs of meat to the back and side of your arms. Make sure not to use a grip that is too small (keep you hands 12 inches apart and you’re good) – now you can still use heavy weights which you obviously need for building mass on your triceps.

The next best exercise is weighted dips – it builds muscle like crazy. Make sure you stay upright so that you hit the triceps and not the chest, that’s where focus shifts when you lean forward. Use a lot of weight but not so much that you fail at 10 reps. You can do more (12-20) reps when doing pressdowns or kickbacks.

THIS IS FOR: TRICEPS LONG HEAD

EXERCISES: All overhead extensions.

If you want to hit that long head of the triceps you need overhead movements dawg. You should use a lot of different variations if you’re really serious about growing that long head. One move that always delivers is the one-arm overhead dumbbell extension. Some lifters like the one where you do it with two arms, but that’s crazy man. You’re all out of balance. Stick to one arm and hit it hard. It’s much more effective.

I also like the overhead cable extension. Use a bar or rope and click it on a low pulley cable and do the same as with the dumbbell. You can sit down or stay standing. Make sure to extend it all the way to really kill those muscle fibres and grow the triceps. The awesome thing about using a cable is that there is constant tension so you can flex it hard and grow. Try to mix up cable and dumbbells work when doing overhead stuff.

THIS IS FOR: MEDIAL HEAD

EXERCISES: Reverse-grip pressdown, lying extension.

The medial head is where most of my homies go wrong. They just neglect it. You train the medial head with a reverse grip when you do your pressdowns. If your wrists hurt you can use an EZ-bar and you should be good. If you’re strong you can lie down on a bench and use a barbell instead of a cable. Go a little bit lighter then when you do standard lying extensions. If you’re not sure what I mean by reverse grip check out this video by my homie Marcos Silva: